Newcomers: NPA Award Recipients 2011

On March 3, 2011, the 19th Annual New Pioneers Awards Gala, organized by Skills for Change, recognized the accomplishments of six remarkable immigrants.

Arts: Waleed Abdulhamid
Waleed Abdulhamid is known for his instrumental expertise, striking vocals, innovative bass technique and speed and precision on percussion. His music has been featured on CBC, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. He is hailed as “one of the most talented and exciting musicians working in Toronto today.”

Entrepreneurship: Jeffrey B.H. Min
Jeffrey Min ensures that his employees have a chance to learn and grow on the job through job and language training opportunities. He also gives senior management the chance to visit Korea to find out more about their suppliers and Korean business practices. He promotes teamwork by providing each department with its own budget for team parties, and fosters loyalty and motivation by offering insurance benefits and sharing profits with employees. People who have worked for one, three or five years receive an ounce of gold for each year worked.

Community Service: Mario Guilombo
In 2008, Mario Guilombo was named one of the Ten Most Influential Hispanic Canadians for his work as a human rights defender, and community and social worker. In addition to earning the Mentor Award of Excellence in 2010, Mario has been nominated for numerous human rights and citizenship awards. Currently, Mario is preparing a security manual for human rights defenders and victims of persecution. He is also studying forensic sciences at the Stratford Institute.

Science & Technology: Dr. Mohamed Karmali
An internationally recognized physician-scientist, Dr. Karmali has made pioneering contributions in medical microbiology and infectious diseases. His first influential work was the discovery that a major cause for childhood enteritis, a common intestinal infection, was Campylobacter jejuni. He published the first study of the natural history of this infection and pioneered its diagnostic technique, conducted epidemiological studies and investigated its antimicrobial resistance. In fact, the most popular diagnostic method for detecting Campylobacters is referred to as “Karmali’s Medium”.

Skills for Change Graduate:Ali Al-Hamawandy
Ali Al-Hamawandy is a role model for his colleagues, a dedicated job coach for his students and a community leader lending his skills and talents in his own neighbourhood. Despite Ali’s busy schedule, he gives back to Skills for Change by attending Engineering Your Future conferences, participating on panels and mentoring newcomer engineers.

Youth: Jemy Mary Joseph
Jemy Mary Joseph was instrumental in persuading the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the City of Toronto to adopt policies against producing school uniforms in sweatshops. In 2004, Jemy co-led a charitable mission organization called Reaching With Compassion, which, in collaboration with 96 churches in India, has helped students fund their secondary and post-secondary education.

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